Dec 26, 2012 10:26 PM EST
Premier League Results: Gareth Bale Hat-Trick Sees Spurs Thrash Villa; Stoke Hand Liverpool Another Defeat

Gareth Bale struck a stunning hat-trick to pile further misery on Aston Villa as Liverpool were dumped 3-1 by Stoke City.

Following their 8-0 humiliation to Chelsea Sunday, Paul Lambert's kids needed to put in a better showing in the Boxing Day game against Tottenham, and for the first 57 minutes they did.

However, once Jermain Defoe opened the scoring three minutes before the hour, the floodgates opened and Bale helped himself to an outstanding treble in the space of 23 minutes to hand Villa a 4-0 loss.

Bale made it 2-0 in the 61st minute, rounding goalkeeper Brad Guzan before slotting into an empty net. Twelve minutes later, it was 3-0, with the 23-year-old striking past Guzan after taking a pass from fellow winger Aaron Lennon.

The icing on the cake was added with six minutes remaining, as the Welsh winger smashed a powerful drive into the top corner off a pass from substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson.

"Gareth is up there with the best (in the world)," Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas said.

"He is showing tremendous skills and talent, I think he is improving every day -- he is such a young player -- and he is helping the team. He is one of our major assets.

"His personality is wonderful, he is going through an excellent moment of his professional and personal life, and we are benefiting from that.

"His finishing is very accurate. He has been prolific in front of goal this season and I think he is enjoying getting into those positions.

"His left foot is wonderful and the power and direction he applies on the ball is wonderful too."

In the late game on Boxing Day, two goals from Jon Walters and one from Kenwyne Jones consigned Liverpool to a 3-1 loss at the Britannia, after Steven Gerrard had given the away side a 1-0 lead in the second minute via a penalty, which was earned by Luis Suarez.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was obviously disappointed with his side's performance against a Stoke side which are unbeaten at home this season.

"We conceded soft goals after a great start, a bit of magic by Luis earned us our first penalty of the season," Rodgers said.

"We were 1-0 up at a place where it's difficult place to score goals. We needed to gain the initiative. But as it was it was always going to be an uphill task.

"Our inconsistency is the biggest thing, we were terrific against Fulham. But you have to put a run together, otherwise you're taking two steps forward and one back.

"You have to earn the right to play, especially at Stoke, you know you'll get pressed. We have to find it otherwise we'll never progress, but this was just too easy."

Loading ...
 PREVIOUS POST
NEXT POST 

featured articles    

Killerspin Revolution SVR Table Review

Tips for Returning to Sport Safely During the Pandemic

Maven Acquires Sports Illustrated, Taps Ross Levinsohn as CEO

How You Can Save Money on Kids' Sports Clothes Using Discount Coupons

Ways to Keep Your Body Physically and Mentally Healthy

How to Choose the Best Catcher's Bag